Micropayment / Microstock Photography: Selling stock in 2008

Hi guys, I just was wondering if anyone else on PictureSocial sold their work on microstock sites, such as iStockphoto.com? I have been doing it on the side for the last 2 years to supplement my income. I am a full time graphic designer by trade, so that takes up 40 hours a week...the rest of the week I try and squeeze in a few hours for my stock photo portfolios.

Man, all I can say is that I wish I knew about this whole stock game sooner. I just got accepted to alamy.com as well, and I hear that the sales yield much higher payments, although they sell a little slower than with sites like iStock.

If anyone is interested in seeing some more examples of the types of images that I sell, or how you can get started yourself, I set up a little informative website: http://www.freewebs.com/micropaymentphotography

Tags: business, micropayment, microstock, photography, photos, selling, stock

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Permalink Reply by Andy P on March 10, 2008 at 1:29pm: I read your article, lots of encouraging stuff in there.
I signed up at DreamsTime a while back. I was under the impression they wanted BIG pics. I didn't see any micropayments mentioned. None of my submissions were accepted and I didn't understand the language used in the rejections. I was very disappointed. I guess I'm not ready.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by graficallyminded on March 10, 2008 at 2:03pm: BIG, as in resolution wise? I know they take as low as 4 or 5 megapixels. This is pretty much the standard on the microstock sites right now. If you need help understanding any rejection reasons, let me know what they are - I might be able to help you out. I've had hundred rejected ;) I'm a seasoned pro. I am also a photo reviewer on one of the stock sites.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Andy P on March 10, 2008 at 4:12pm: GM, I deleted all the rejections months ago. I still have an account but.... I got accepted with the same pics at PhotoShelter but the payment process was beyond me. I feel like such a dunce at this.
All submissions were at 300+ resolution, saved with no condensing. But I made them big like 3500 X 2500 which is a bit larger than the original from a 7 MP capture.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by graficallyminded on March 10, 2008 at 4:24pm: I haven't submitted to Photoshelter, but I know many of my friends have. I believe that what you submit to Photoshelter, you cannot submit to other micro sites. That's why I stick to the ones that allow the RF license. If you're interested in sites where you can set your own price for your photos, featurepics is also a great agency. I usually hit a few payouts a year there, but since I set my images to $10 and under, it takes a bit longer to hit them.

Alamy is the only site I submit to that I actually have to upconvert my images to 48M pixel resolution. It's not actually a 48mb image, more like a 3-5mb jpeg once it's saved.

If you're looking to get started at some agencies that will yield you some really good sales, yet aren't that difficult to get into, I would personally recommend bigstockphoto, fotolia, and dreamstime. Shutterstock and iStock are a lot harder to get into, but I recommend starting out with these three smaller agencies first, just to get your feet wet.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Andy P on March 10, 2008 at 6:10pm: Well if every image I submit to DreamsTime is rejected, I must be doing something wrong.
I never accepted the exclusivity clause at PhotoShelter. Plus none of my pics were ever actually put out because I didn't set up a payment plan.
I know I have acceptable pics, I just can't make them 'right' for them.
I spent hours reading the guide lines, I thought I knew what they wanted.
Sorry to go on but it's my big disappointment of last year. I'm in sales and can handle rejection fine. But I didn't understand why, you know?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by graficallyminded on March 10, 2008 at 7:18pm: Maybe I am not remembering correctly why I didn't sign up for photoshelter - maybe there was something about having to pay for a plan in order to sell your work there...I don't pay anywhere to sell my stuff. If I can't sell it for free, they're not getting it.

I can understand your frustration with your first submissions to Dreamstime. You have to realize that this stock stuff...it's all just a game. Sometimes you just get a reviewer on a bad day. Show me an example of what you submitted, and what was rejected - and I'll give you my professional opinion/critique. I am a reviewer on one of the sites, but I don't have the time to do it much. I have reviewed thousands of photos, though - stock photos from fellow photographers and illustrators. Maybe I can help?

I love your bug shots, Andy! It looks like you might do a lot of high-ISO shots. Were the Dreamstime rejections for noise? If so, you might be able to clean it up in post-processing. One thing about stock which is kind of stupid...the images have to look flawless even at 100% zoom. Even though most noise won't show up in a print, you can't have any at 100%. Dreamstime is pretty strict about this. Try starting with Fotolia and Bigstock first, and then move on to Dreamstime.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by graficallyminded on March 10, 2008 at 4:33pm: Are you kidding Yurick? Your photos look highly stock-related! Just make sure you find similar images, and get ideas from the types of keywords they used. That helped me a lot, in learning how to describe them. Good keywording is highly related to getting sales in this stock game.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Todd Whetstine on March 10, 2008 at 6:30pm: Hey GM thanks for the tips, I've been interested in trying it for a while now. I take mostly landscape and wildlife photos, do those type photos make any money?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by graficallyminded on March 10, 2008 at 7:06pm: Definitely, I mean landscapes are so well covered - but if you're specific enough about what location you've shot in the keywords, you will sometimes get more sales. I have beach/shoreline shots that sell occasionally. Wildlife shots will sell a bit better, I think. Any shots that are outstandingly composed will generally sell.

Photos that are more like prints...they don't seem to sell as well on micro sites. The simpler the subject, the better. When you're shooting - you have to think Nature, Medical, Business, People ( I know people shots sell the best, as long as you have Model Releases you can sell these. I haven't had a chance to sell many people shots just yet ).

Graphics and illustrations also sell like hotcakes, if you have photoshop or illustrator experience you will have a huge advantage. Most of my best sellers aren't even real photos - they're stuff I've managed to whip up in graphics programs.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Diane Phillips on March 12, 2008 at 12:03pm: GM, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I will come back to read again. Right now I am very busy with finals and midterms ( working on two degrees at once), so I haven't had time to even upload photos to picturesocial. This coming week is Spring break, and it is on my high priority list. I would love your constructive criticism then, as well as my other "friends's" input.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by graficallyminded on March 12, 2008 at 12:05pm: Sure thing, let me know if you have any questions.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by graficallyminded on March 14, 2008 at 6:03am: Hey Todd! (What kind of name is that, anyway...HA my name too)

Yeah, those will sell. Prints don't seem to sell as well, but they do sometimes sell. Landscapes and wildlife are pretty well covered subjects. Whatever you upload, make sure its the best of your best. Any great photo will sell. Even not so great ones, amazingly - macros seem to do very well. I had a closeup of some ice cream sell for and $80 Extended license once.; ▶ Reply to This